HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Stewart powers PV offensive onslaught

The Vikings, led by junior quarterback Rasaan Stewart, amassed 534 yards of total offense in producing a 28-15 victory over the Phantoms at Thomas J. Keenan Stadium.

Stewart rushed for 223 yards and three touchdowns and also passed for 185 more yards with 16-for-23 efficiency to pilot the Vikings, who remained undefeated at 5-0 in the Pioneer Athletic Conference (5-1 overall).

Stewart scored on runs of 51, 41 and 37 yards with jaunts around the end and up the middle against Phoenixville’s defense. He carried 22 times and also helped PV with his athleticism in the defensive secondary.

Perkiomen Valley built a 20-0 halftime lead but hurt itself with turnovers, including three lost fumbles and one interception by the Phantoms’ Ryan Yenchick.

The Phantoms (2-2, 3-3 overall) trimmed the deficit to 20-15 with 10:05 remaining in the third period after recovering two fumbles. But the Phantoms could not stop the Vikes from moving the football on the ground or through the air.

The hosts ended the evening with 349 yards rushing as junior Mark Bonomo added 117 yards and one TD on an eight-yard run to complement Stewart’s running.

“We are capable of doing a lot of big things,” said Stewart. “With the no-huddle, we keep going and we break one big play in keeping the momentum on our side.

“We spread the ball around, so it is hard for teams to game plan against us. We have good receivers and good running backs, and that takes the pressure off of everyone.”

Stewart said the Vikes just have to sharpen their ball security to avoid costly turnovers in future contests.

“That will be our focus in practice,” said Stewart. “We can’t have all those turnovers. We have to protect the ball and we’ll be fine.”

Stewart found junior wide reciver Clay Domine seven times for 95 yards passing and junior Dakota Clanagan caught six balls for 78 more yards. Senior Davon Mitchell chipped in with one grab for 17 yards and Bonomo also had two receptions out of the backfield.

Clanagan picked up 15 yards rushing and Kean McKnight tacked on 10 more as PV’s offensive line blocked well to enable the Vikings to control the football.

Perkiomen Valley also provided good pressure up front on defense with four sacks of Phantom quarterback Chris Demey. Danny Light had 1.5 sacks, while Robbie Thacker and Mike Reiner had one apiece and Tony Pachella helped out on one sack along with active work from his linebacker spot on defense.

Demey did finish 9-for-21 in the passing department for 101 yards and two touchdowns — a 17-yard flip to Yenchick and a 47-yard strike to Brian Madden.

Yenchick, who also recovered a fumble, rushed for 83 yards on 19 tries. Donnie Jackson and Madden had the other fumble recoveries for the Phantoms.

Yenchick, Ryan Pannella and Sean Hesser each had two receptions for Phoenixville while Justin McDougal and Cole Luzins had one apiece.

“We need to take better care of the football, and that’s on all of us,” said Perkiomen Valley coach Scott Reed. “We’ve been putting the ball on the turf for two weeks now, and we can’t have that. The turnovers are what stalled our scoring drives. I was really proud of our defense. Other than the two turnovers we had on the kick returns that led to their scores, we did a great job collectively. We had some really big stops at our end of the field.

“Every year when we play Phoenixville, it’s always a hard-fought football game. They have tough kids. but I liked the fact that we had to play four quarters. We showed some resiliency when they had the momentum. Our defense helped take it away.”

Phoenixville coach Bill Furlong praised the Vikings for their solid play, as well as his own team for putting up a battle.

“(Perkiomen Valley is) a good team,” said Furlong. “They played well. They out-executed us, and that’s a huge part of football. Our guys were out there fighting

and trying, but at times it was too hard and we had some overplaying. You just have to do your job. They are a good team and they are well-coached and they execute. They definitely outplayed us tonight.”

Perkiomen Valley also got some good work from Jamie Biddle and Austin Gansz up front on defense, and Damar Fletcher and Luke DiElsi recovered fumbles.